Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Born in Cosenza, Calabria in 1875 Colosimo was the founder
of what would become the Chicago Family.Arrived in America in 1895, came to Chicago and did menial jobs for some
years.Eventually he organized the
street sweepers into a Union.This
brought him to the attention of local politicians Kenna and Coughlin, who made
him a Precinct Captain.He became their
“bagman”, collecting graft and delivering votes.Soon he opened a brothel, then married
Victoria Moresco, who already ran some.This allowed him to build the biggest vice empire in Chicago.This success attracted Blackhand
extortioners, who hounded him for years.Finally, in 1909, he imported John Torrio, a relative of Moresco, to
help him.Three ex-Pittsburgh
extortioners were soon found murdered.Colosimo made Torrio his right-hand, and opened Colosimo’s Cafe in
1910.Torrio re-organized and expanded
the vice empire, making Colosimo a rich man.With the coming of Prohibition in 1920, Torrio wanted to move into
bootlegging in a big way.However,
Colosimo claimed it was too risky and refused.Torrio, a visionary, was not going to let this stop him earning millions
and planned Colosimo’s death.Importing
his old Brooklyn associate Frankie Yale, he set-up Colosimo’s murder in May
1920 in the Cafe.

Antonio D’Andrea

Born in 1872 in Valledolmo, in Caltanisetta
Province,Sicily.Emigrated to the USA in
1895, going to a brother in Buffalo, NYS.Previously attended the University of Palermo, and trained to be a
Priest.Left the Church to marry, was
Naturalized in 1899 and moved to Chicago about 1900.Became a partner in a Macaroni factory, but
convicted in 1902 of counterfeiting and jailed.This counterfeit ring was connected to Vito Cascio Ferro, and possibly
Giuseppe Morello, in NYC.He was
Pardoned in 1905, and released.Succeeded Joseph D’Andrea, no relation, as head of various unions, after
the latter’s murder in 1914.This may have
been part of a power struggle within the local Mafia, as the head Rosario
Dispenza was also killed that year.D’Andrea emerged as the leader of both the Unione Sicilione, and the
local Cosca.Associated with him was
Michele Merlo, the Genna brothers and local non-Sicilian powers Joseph Esposito
and Jim Colosimo.However D’Andrea was
defeated several times, 1914+16+19, when he stood for political office.During these violent years, he was arrested
for carrying a gun, and in 1916, one of his political opponents was
killed.Nicola Gentile tells us that
D’Andrea was a power in national Mafia affairs during the 1910’s.In 1921 he made one last attempt to get
elected as Alderman of the 19th ward.His opponent John Powers was the longstanding
power in the ward, and fought violence with violence.D’Andrea was narrowly defeated again, and was
warned to leave Chicago.Even his
position as leader of the Sicilian underworld could not save him, and he was
killed in 1921.Michele Merlo succeeded
him, and later his Nephew Phil also headed the Unione Sicilione.

Joseph D’Andrea.

Born in Pizzone in the Molise region of Italy, he entered
America in 1887 and settled in Chicago.There was a large immigration from Molise to Chicago in these years, and
he became a citizen in 1895.He married
into the Fosco family, his brother-in-law Peter became a well known union
racketeer.He was acquitted of the
murder of Antonio Mezza in 1902.By 1911
he was head of the Hod Carriers union, and soon added the Tunnel Workers union
too.Some sources say he headed the
Unione Sicilione , but as a non-Sicilian this is improbable.However he was associating with powerful
underworld figures like Jim Colosimo, Antonio D’Andrea and Joseph
Esposito.Union unrest in 1914 caused
him to be shot, and he died from his wounds soon after.He was succeeded in his union positions by
Antonio D’Andrea.

Mariano Zagone + Rosario Dispenza.

These two men were associated in a Mafia group in Chicago,
with connections to the Morello family in NYC.Both were born in Cimmina, Sicily in the 1860’s [Zagone in 1862,
Dispenza in 1869] and came to America in 1899.Zagone went first to NYS, then settled on the Near Northside of
Chicago.He was arrested for
counterfeiting in 1901, probably the same case involving Antonio D’Andrea, Vito
Cascio Ferro and Giuseppe Morello.He
became a cigar maker, and got involved in the Unione Sicilione.The violence surrounding this almost cost him
his life in 1906 when he was wounded.Zagone was killed in 1909, with his suspected killers being his stepson
Joseph Spatafora, and his in-laws the Nicolosi brothers.

Rosario Dispenza, known as the Heartess, camestraight to a brother-in-law in Chicago in
1899.He seems to have succeeded Zagone
as leader of this group.He too was
related to Spatafora, and along with his partner Antonio Puccio, bought a
saloon from him. The partners were soon
running a bank and Society for immigrants fromCimmina.Possibly organized
Zagone’s removal in 1909, and that same year he was in correspondence with
Giuseppe Morello about the induction of a member into his group.1914 saw both Puccio, and then Dispenza
killed in faction fighting within the local Sicilian underworld.Antonio D’Andrea possibly succeeded them.

[Source for this is an article by Rick Warner + Tom Hunt in
the April 2009 issue of the Informer].

Giuseppe Esposito [Diamond Joe].

Born in 1872 in Accera, near Naples on the Italian
mainland.He emigrated in1895, landing
at Boston, and moved onto New York.Settling on Navy Street in Brooklyn, he opened a bakery.Rumour has it that he killed a man while
living in Brooklyn, before he left for Chicago in 1905.In Chicago he became a “Padrone”, controlling
votes and jobs in the Italian ghettos.He also sponsored immigrants, including the Sicilian Genna brothers. Was a founder of the Accera club, and his
influence allowed him to participate in 19th ward politics.In 1913 he opened the Bella Napoli cafe, with
Anthony [Mops] Volpe as manager and Paul Ricca as a waiter.During the 1910’s he was arrested many times,
including gun possession in 1915, and the murder of Cuneo Colletta in 1917.

With the coming of Prohibition in 1920 Esposito entered the
bootlegging trade, gaining a monopoly on sugar importation from Cuba.Joe Fusco was his main associate, with the
Genna gang his largest customers.Soon
he grew wealthy, and ranked with Torrio, Merlo,andD’Andrea as a power in the Italian
underworld.The bootleg wars of the
1920’s gradually removed Esposito’s associates, 3 Genna brothers and a cousin
all killed.Esposito, a long time
Democratic power, switched his support to the Republicans in the 1928
election.This went against the Capone
gangs wishes, and he was repeatedly warned to change or leave Chicago.Ignoring them he hired two bodyguards, but
they could not protect him from being killed.

Michele Merlo.

Born in Sambuca Zabat, Sicily in 1880 and arrived in the USA
in 1890 at New Orleans.He lived in New
Orleans for 10 years, before moving to Chicago in 1900.Closely associatedwith the Unione Sicilione, he was Naturalized
in 1905.Variously described on
documents [Passport Application, WW1 Registration card] as a Commission
Merchant or Business Agent for a Labour Union.Merlo was generally admired, and acted as a peacekeeper amongst the
warring factions.He was close to
Antonio D’Andrea, who was a partner to Merlo’s brother, and was his right hand
man.Merlo was on a visit back to Italy
in 1921, when D’Andrea was murdered.On
his return he was elected head of the Unione Sicilione, and ordered the death
of D’Andrea’s bodyguard who was suspected to have betrayed him.During his short reign he kept the peace
between the Genna and O’Bannion gangs, before dying of cancer in 1924.His funeral attracted 10,000 mourners, and
his son John served for many years as an Alderman.His death was followed by a surge in faction
fighting.

Joseph Morici.

Born in Termini Imerese Sicily in 1855, the date of his
arrival in the USA was 1885.His early
activities are unknown, but eventually he became a Commission Merchant.He was not alone in Chicago as his brothers
Frank, who ran a saloon, Vito and George were all active in criminal life.They lived in the Little Sicily section of
the Near North Side.Morici first came
to public attention in 1901 when arrested for the murder of Salvatore
DiGiovanni, a political power amongst the Neapolitan community.He went on trial, but was acquitted.Thereafter he, and his brothers, formed a
powerful group within the Sicilian underworld.In 1908 he was again arrested for murder, along with Vito and
George.Yet again avoiding prison we
last hear of him in 1911, when he was arrested for Arson.Nothing further is reported until his death
in 1925.

Antonino Sanfilippo.

This man is the first known leader of the Italian underworld
in Chicago Heights.Born in Lascari
Sicily in 1877, he entered the USA in 1904.He became a citizen in 1908, and on his WW1 Registration card is listed
as a druggist.Later he became a ticket
agent for the shipping companies bringing immigrants from Italy.By the mid-1910’s he was an Alderman, a
position he held until 1921.By this
time he was also the head of the local branch of the Unione Sicilione.With the coming of Prohibition in 1920, he
moved into bootleggingand grew
wealthy.In 1924 his ambitious
subordinate Phil Piazza plotted his death, and he was killed.Piazza lasted only two years before being
murdered.Eventually a Calabrian
faction, closely allied to the Capone gang, gained control of Chicago Heights.

Giovanni Torrio [Terrible Johnny / J.T.].

Generally recognised as a criminal genius, and the real
organizer of “The Outfit”, Torrio was never an actual member of Cosa Nostra /
Mafia.Born in Irsina in Basilicata [or
Orsara], Italy in 1882 and coming to America as a toddler in 1884.He was steeped in criminal life from a very
early age, his Step-father running a saloon on James Street on the LES of New
York.Soon he was running his own saloon
and brothel, and acting as a boxing manager and promoter.He also gathered a collection of associates
called the James Street gang.As both an
Italian gang leader, and involved in boxing, he soon came to know Paul Kelly
[an ex-boxer and gang leader], Jack Sirocco and Jim Kelly [leaders of the Five
Points gang].Paul Kelly, real name
Vaccarelli, treated Torrio as a protégé and helped him mature.While the Five Points leaders used Torrio’s men
in time of need.The violent inter-gang
wars of the 1900’s persuaded Torrio to move his operations to Brooklyn.Here he set-up the John Torrio Association,
and ran his rackets from a billiard hall in Navy Street.This area would become home to several future
Torrio associates, such as Frank Nitti, Al Capone, and Frankie Yale.Yale, real name Ioele, became his partner in
the Harvard Inn on Coney Island, where Capone worked as a waiter and got his
famous facial scars.Around 1909 Torrio
received a call for help from a relative called Victoria Moresco in
Chicago.Her husband “Big Jim” Colosimo was
being threatened by blackhandextortioners.Torrio went to
Chicago, handled the problem by killing three extortioners, and returned to
Brooklyn.Colosimo was impressed, and
asked him to move to Chicago and handle a string of brothels.Torrio sold all his holdings to Yale, and
became Colosimo’s second-in-command.Upon arrival he started reorganizing and expanding Colosimo’s vice
empire.Pushing out into the suburbs, he
bought saloons and brothels and corrupted local police and politicians.Colosimo, grown wealthy and lazy, divorced
Moresco and married a young singer.He
also refused to invest in the new bootlegging racket, considering it too
risky.Torrio, shrewd businessman that
he was, could see the vast financial potential, and was not going to be
denied.Importing his old partner Yale
from Brooklyn, he set-up Colosimo’s murder in 1920.Now the head of a large vice and booze
organization, he arranged for all the local factions to share-out territorial
control of Chicago’s underworld.Torrio also
brought Capone to Chicago, and groomed him to be his righthand.Despite enmity between the Sicilian Genna
gang and the multi-ethnic Northside gang the peace brokered by Torrio lasted
till 1924. Then he was double-crossed by the Northside gang leader Dion
O’Bannion over a brewery sale. The death
of Mike Merlo, the head of the Unione Sicilione, provided the opportunity to
eliminate O’Bannion, who was killed in his flower shop.The Northsiders reacted violently, badly
wounding Torrio outside his home. Upon
recovering, Torrio went to prison for an old bootlegging charge, and on release
sold-out to Capone and left Chicago for good.Taking his wife, he went to Italy on a long holiday [1925-28].His return to NYC coincided with attempts to
form a nationwide bootleg organization [the Big 7].At a meeting in Atlantic City in 1929, Torrio
was put in charge of organizing it.This
combine thrived till the end of Prohibition in 1933.Torrio retired from illegal activity in the
mid-1930’s, surviving an arrest for Forgery in 1936.Thereafter he operated as a legitimate real
estate agent for the rest of his life, which ended in a heart-attack in
1957.

Saturday, 3 October 2015

This man is mentioned by Al D’Arco in his book Mob Boss, as
a power in the 4th ward on the LES.Several future members started
out under his leadership, such as David Petillo, Rosario DiMaggio, George
Filippone, Frank Caruso and Phil Albanese.After his death his followers joined the Genovese Family, except Angelo
Tuminaro who joined the Lucchese Family.Tracing Aiello has proved difficult, and the only biographical details i
can find are on the 1920 Census.He was
born around 1896 in Italy [Province unknown], came to America in 1903, was a
Naturalized Citizen and lived in the Bronx.We have no date of death for him.

Giovanni DeSalvio [Jim Kelly].

Along with Jack Sirocco, he was a founder, and leader, of
the Five Points Gang.Born in 1881 in
NYC to parents from the Italian mainland, he lived on Hester Street.He and Sirocco first became associated in the
King Boxing Club in the 1890’s.Later
they opened the Five Points Social Club, which was associated to Tammany Hall,
the local Democratic Party organisation.The club ran boxing, athletic and dance events, and organized votes for
Tammany on election days.Their HQ was
on White Street, and later Pell Street, in the Five Points district.Conflicts ensued with rival gangs, the
Eastmans [1902], and Paul Kelly’s Association [1905].It was the shooting of Paul Kelly by two Five
Pointers in 1905 that drove him out of the LES, and allowed Sirocco and
DeSalvio to dominate the area’s rackets.Around this time the gang split into several factions, with DeSalvio
organizing his own Jimmy Kelly gang.His
faction opposed two others led by Sirocco and Chick Tricker, and fought for
control of the area around Chinatown. Continuing to run rackets from his 14th Street
Saloon HQ, DeSalvio rose within the Tammany organization to become a power in
local politics.In 1908 he was wounded,
and the fued with Sirocco lasted till1913. Future Genovese Capo Anthony Carfano
[Augie Pisano] married DeSalvio’s daughter.Carfano became a power on the Brooklyn docks, as the right hand of Frankie
Yale during the 1920’s.With his
father-in-law offering political protection, Carfano took-over the Yale faction
after Yale’s murder in 1928.According
to the NYCDI, DeSalvio died in 1948, while living in the Bronx.

Giosue Gallucci.

Known as the King of Little Italy, Gallucci controlled
numerous business in Harlem, including the Italian Lottery.Born in 1865 in Naples he, and his 3
brothers, were Camorristi and had long criminal records in Italy.He arrived in NYC in 1892 and operated a
store on Mott Street.In 1898 his brother
Vincenzo was killed, and he was arrested for the murder of a woman.He gained Naturalization in 1899, and later
moved to East 109th Street in Harlem.The area was dominated by the Sicilian
Morello gang, although 109th Street was settled mostly by
Neapolitans.Gallucci became a “Padrone”
and ran a lottery from his Bakery.Rivals
and Black Handers continually attempted to extort him, and in 1909 another
brother, Gennaro, was killed.After the
1910 conviction of Morello and Lupo, Gallucci’s influence grew.A fellow Neapolitan Anniello Prisco, who was
involved in the “Murder Stable” fued, became his enemy.After several Gallucciassociates were killed in 1911, Prisco was
finally killed in 1912 by Gallucci’s nephew.Now a millionaire, Gallucci had political connections to Tammany and
controlled the Ice and Coal supplies in Harlem.A new alliance between the Sicilian Morello’s, and a Brooklyn Camorra
gang now threatened Gallucci.Wounded in
both 1913 and 1914, and with several bodyguards killed, Gallucci grew
fatalistic.They eventually cornered and
killed him, and his Son, in his bakery in 1915.

Biagio Giordano.

Born in Gallico, Calabria in 1879, he arrived in the USA in
1898 and settled in Brooklyn.We first
hear of Giordano as a Blackhander arrested in 1903 for trying to extort a
Neapolitan called Cappiello.The source
for this is the book The Black Hand.He
probably went to prison, and is not heard from again until 1922.By the early 1920’s he led a gang of fellow
Calabrians which included Gregorio Lagana, Joseph Florino and Umberto
Anastasio.A fued erupted in 1922, and
Giordano was wounded in July. Lagana
who was also from Gallico, was suspected of murder in 1916, was himself killed
in November by a Palermo Mafioso called
Joseph Busardo.Within a month another
Calabrian from Gallico was killed in Boston [Annibale Stilo].The following February a Sicilian was killed
in Vincenzo Busardo’s home.In April
Vincenzo Busardo was murdered, and Anastasio and Florino arrested.The climax was reached 3 weeks later, when
Giordano and Anastasio were driving in Red Hook.Gunfire from an apartment window killed
Giordano and gravely wounded Anastasio.

Giovanni Sirocco [Big Jack].

Born 1882 in NYC, his parents were from the Italian
mainland.Became involved in the King
boxing club, and associated with a boxer called Giovanni DeSalvio, known as Jim
Kelly.They co-founded the Five Points
Social club, with a HQ in White Street.They also worked as organisers for Tom Foley, a leader in the Tammany
Hall political organization.By 1902 the
Five Points gang came into conflict with the Eastman gang, which required Tom
Foley to broker a peace.This was
followed in 1905 with a bloody fued with Paul Kelly’s association.This involved several hundred thugs on both
sides.Eventually two Five Pointers shot
Kelly in his dance hall HQ, and the Five Pointers ruled supreme on the
LES.Soon however the gang split into
factions, with DeSalvio forming his own gang.Sirocco, and his associate Chick Tricker [Tricca], ruled over allied gangs.Sirocco ran his rackets from a saloon on
Chatham Square, and became a Union organiser.Another small war with Jack Zelig’s gang erupted in 1911, which ended
with his murder in 1912.Sirocco and
Tricker were also fueding with Benny Fein and their old associate
DeSalvio.The old style gangs started to
break-up, and the advent of Prohibition[1920] revolutionised the underworld.Sirocco disappears from view, and on the 1930 Census he is recorded as a
cook living in Brooklyn.He died in
1954.

Vaccarelli-Paolo [Paul Kelly].

Let’s state something straightaway, Paul Kelly was not
a member, let alone the leader of the Five Points gang.The best source for this is a book called
Manhattan Mafia Guide, written by Eric Ferrara.Vaccarelli was born in 1876 in NYC, to parents from Potenza,
Basilicata.At 18 he was working on the
East River docks.As with many early
gang leaders, he was a boxer in his youth.Boxingprofessionly by the
mid-1890’s, he used the name Kelly.Soon
he organised his own Paul Kelly Association, and promoted boxers.He soon made enemies, as in 1901 he was shot
at a boxing match.That same year he
served some Jail time for assault.In
1903 his HQ on Mulberry Street was raided by the police.Kelly moved his HQ to Stanton Street, and
opened branches in Harlem and Newark, NJ.Also that year came a conflict with the Monk Eastman gang, with a gun battle
on Rivington Street that forced the police to close the Stanton Street HQ.Kelly moved to the New Brighton dancehall on
Great Jones Street.John Torrio, who
also originated in Basilicata, became a protégé of Kelly.Throughout 1904 both Kelly’s gang, and the
Five Pointers were in the newspapers for various incidents.The gangs finally clashed in 1905 with
Kelly’s bodyguard killed and Five Points leader Jack Sirocco wounded.In November, two Five Points gunmen invaded
the Kelly HQ and shot him, also killing another bodyguard.Police closed the New Brighton, and Kelly
retired from the LES gang scene and moved to East Harlem.Reinventing himself he became a Union racketeer,
as well as joining his brother Joseph in Real Estate management.Over the next decade, despite constant police
attention, he continued both his legal, and illegal activities.He was back in the limelight by 1915 as
powerful ILA official, causing huge strikes in both 1916 and 1919. Ousted from
the ILA, he started his own riverfront union.He continued to be a power until his death in 1936.

Giuseppe Viserti [Diamond Joe Pepe].

Born 1891 in Sarno, Salerno Province and arrived in the USA
in 1900.Seems to have been a gun for
hire, suspected of several murders in the 1910’s.He lived in Harlem and may have belonged to
one of the local gangs.He was a suspect
in the killing of Gallucci enemy Amadio Buonomo in 1913.The same year he was convicted of the
Manslaughter of police informant Jerry Maida.Sentanced to a long prison term, he was paroled in 1918.On his WW1 Registration card, he stated he
lived on 113th Street, worked as a truck driver and was not a
citizen.Believed to be involved in
white slavery, he was arrested again for murder in 1919.With the advent of Prohibition in 1920 he
entered into partnership with Vincent Terranova, and became an active bootlegger.He soon became wealthy, wearing flash
jewelry, being named Diamond Joe.He
purchased a gambling club in the Bronx, although still residing in Harlem.Around this time a young Joe Valachi
associated with a Viserti relative called Tonno, who was killed.Viserti showed Valachi a dead enemy hanging
in his basement at the Bronx club.There
was considerable conflict in NYC at this point, and Visertias an ally of the Terranova’s was deeply
involved.In October 1921 he was in a
cafe on Broome Street, when a gunman burst in and shot him dead.Joe Masseria, who may have been a close
associate, was reputed to be present.